Foreign Hostages’ Death: No Confirmation Yet — Abba Moro

The Minister of Interior, Mr. Abba Moro yesterday informed the BBC Hausa service that there was no confirmation the kidnapped foreign hostages were dead.

He said, “As long as it remains unconfirmed, efforts will be made to ensure their rescue and security.”

A spokesman for Nigeria’s Ministry of Defence said that since this was a diplomatic incident, the presidency would have to make a statement on it.

Meanwhile, the federal government has refused to comment on the alleged gruesome murder of seven foreign hostages by an Islamist sect, Ansaru, despite their countries’ confirmation of the killings.

Information Minister, Mr. Labaran Maku, declined to speak on government’s position on the matter when confronted by State House correspondents yesterday, maintaining that he had not been fully briefed.

“I don’t have the full brief to brief you,” Maku stated, while leaving the presidential villa, Abuja, after a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan.

When he was further asked to comment on the listing of Nigeria as a terrorist state by France over the incident, the minister simply smiled.